Follow You Down
by meliz875
Summary: She was everything he needed, and she vowed to follow him anywhere. She thought she already had, but in reality, their journey was just beginning. A continuation oneshot of drabble #4 in 'Crazy, Beautiful Life.' Written as a gift for Iamtwilightobsessed-MP.


_******Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

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**Title**: Follow You Down

**Pairing**: Embry/Bella

**Rating**: MA

**Genre**: ALL THE ROMANCE!

**Beta/Pre-reader:** None

**Summary**: She was everything he needed, and she vowed to follow him anywhere. She thought she had, but in reality, their journey was just beginning. A continuation oneshot of drabble #4 in "Crazy, Beautiful Life."

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**AN**: So, over on TR, our site owner, MP, was in a car accident over Memorial Day weekend. While she recovered, I offered to write all the Embry porns she wanted - well, she took me up on that offer.

This took me longer than I expected it to, but that has been the case with much of my writing lately. Le sigh. Anyway, she requested these particular porns be soft and loving (read also: not full of heartfail, my normal specialty - you should see the names she calls me … *grins*) so I thought I would do a little continuation of a drabble I wrote last fall, one I know MP (and others) really enjoyed. Granted, there is a LITTLE drama but it makes the "soft and loving" part all the more sweet.

This new part is based on a prompt provided by Chrissi HR, which actually goes perfectly with this idea. It was a photo of a hotel sign, one from The Palms Motor Lodge in Portland, Oregon, the same one mentioned in this oneshot.

Anyway, the first 500 words or so in this are the original drabble, included for context. It's called 'Follow' and can also be found 'Crazy, Beautiful Life'. You'll know which is which because I italicized the original. I DID HOWEVER tweak it just a tiny bit since I no longer have word limit restrictions, so make sure to re-read it. *grins* Hope you guys enjoy!

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**_Suggested Listening: "Here With Me" by Susie Suh & Robot Koch, "Something About You" by The Cary Brothers, "Follow You Down" by Matthew Mayfield_**

.

_Bella's hands trembled, her eyes on the empty hotel parking lot. She had no idea where they were. _

_All she knew is she was somewhere between where they were going and where she wanted to be._

_Glancing over her shoulder, Bella was anxious, listening for the sound of the shower through the open bathroom door. She knew her mother had to be close to finished._

_Bella closed her eyes, all of it coming back - the anger, the tears, the memory of her father calling her mother. He'd said he tried everything, but nothing worked._

_Her father hadn't kept Bella away from him._

_Charlie's words … _

_He's no good for you, Bella._

_You deserve a better life. To not make the same mistakes I made…_

_Her mother's … _

_God, they'd made the biggest mistake possible. _

_If she takes you, I'll find you._

_He'd promised her._

_It hadn't mattered._

_She came home from work at the diner to find her mother loading suitcases filled with everything Bella owned into the back of a car she didn't recognize. Bella screamed. She cried, but an hour later, she was in the backseat anyway, leaving her life and everything she loved behind._

_He never showed up … _

_And she had no choice, her mother said._

_Bella opened her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed back tears … _

_Noticing the cloud of dust before her gaze could even clear._

_She watched as a station wagon - one that looked too familiar - peeled into the vacant lot, tires protesting against the pavement._

_Bella's heart stopped when the car screeched to a stop._

_She knew that voice, calling for her to get in the car. She knew those eyes, wild with determination, somehow apologizing for being late._

_Her feet moved before she could think, and Bella fumbled through the hotel room door, her body buzzing with adrenaline as she grabbed her suitcase from the floor. _

_Shooting one last glance toward the bathroom, she noticed the water had stopped running._

_She ran, losing track of her steps. He pushed open the door and she tumbled into the seat. Dust swirling around them, the car was already moving by the time she pulled the door closed._

_Wind whipped her hair around her face, but she could still see those eyes, peering at her from the driver's seat._

_It wasn't a mistake. It was worth the trouble. There was no better way._

_She'd found what was good for her, hidden away from the rest of the world but buried deep within a pair of ebony eyes that could see straight to her soul._

_The tears came anyway._

_"You came," she whispered with a breathless smile._

_Embry's hand stretched out to find her, one finger tracing a small circle on her stomach, just below her belly button._

_"I had to come get my girls," he grinned._

_Bella leaned across the distance separating them, pushing her lips against his. Not caring about the road, she twisted her fingers through his hair, trying to pull him as close as she could._

_It didn't matter how he'd found her or who might follow. It didn't matter where they were going._

_She had what she needed._

_And she would follow him anywhere._

.

.

Taking a deep breath, Bella reached up, using her palm to wipe the condensation off the dingy bathroom mirror.

Using her other hand, she pushed strands of wet hair from her shower away from her face. The lighting in the bathroom left a lot to be desired, but it wasn't enough to hide the person staring back at her. It wasn't enough to keep her from staring forlornly at the tired, haggard reflection in the mirror.

She looked terrible, and she doubted she needed a mirror to confirm it. She looked like she'd been through hell and back in a matter of forty-eight hours. Still, she studied her appearance in the mirror. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, lids swollen from the countless tears she shed, and Bella knew there was no amount of hot showers that could wipe away the evidence from everything she'd felt up until eight hours ago.

_Eight hours ago …_

Despite the way she looked, Bella could only watch in awe as a small yet grateful smile spread slowly across her lips.

Because no matter what led up to where she was - no matter what was reflected on the outside - things were better now. _She _was better now, and she was where she was supposed to be.

She was _supposed _to be in this dark bathroom in this one-man, musty hotel room off Interstate 5 in Portland. She was _supposed _to look the way she did because it was a reminder, if nothing else, of just how thankful she was he had kept his promise after all

Embry had found her, and it also was a testament to how much she regretted ever doubting him.

Holding her breath, Bella shut her eyes on her reflection and instead let her hand travel down. Fingers skimmed across her abdomen, and she could finally feel the small but prominent bump beneath the white, nicotine-scented towel wrapped around her body.

She was thankful he had found _both _of them - her and their unborn child, the existence of the tiny life inside her the reason all of it had happened in the first place.

Bella still had no idea how Embry figured it out, or how he knew which hotel she and her mother had stopped at somewhere in California on their way to Phoenix. She had no idea whose foreign, beat-up station wagon they were in or where they were going. She tried to care about what she was leaving behind, flickers of other thoughts passing through her head - her friends and family, how worried her mother would be, how she may never see Charlie again.

She _tried_, but she couldn't - not then, not _yet_. In that moment, the only thing she cared about was the fact they were together.

_Her _family was together, and that was all she needed.

After a couple hours of driving, though, Bella had figured out they were backtracking, heading the way she had come with her mother only a day earlier. When she asked Embry why, he kept his eyes on the road, squeezing her hand a little tighter before he replied, "Closer to home is the last place they'll expect us to go."

It was close to two a.m. before Embry finally pulled the car off the interstate. Gently nudging Bella, who was dozing on his shoulder, he pointed to the neon sign that appeared clear as day from the road.

"We'll stop here," he whispered, turning his face just enough to land a tender kiss on her forehead, prompting her to give him a drowsy smile.

Bella didn't question his choice, even when he pulled into the parking lot. She had a couple weeks before she turned eighteen, so Embry - who had been eighteen for several months - left her in the running car to get a room. It gave her a chance to look around and really take in where they were. It looked like the kind of place she'd seen in cheesy horror films, but it also looked like the a place she knew they would end up. Her mother had taken everything from her - her cell phone, her checkbook - and Bella had no idea how much money Embry had brought with him.

The motel gave her a pretty good idea.

Bella didn't mind, though. They would make the best of it. None of what lay ahead of them was going to be easy, but she already knew that.

They would figure it out … somehow.

Pink-painted toenails curling into the cold laminate beneath her feet, Bella hurriedly ran a brush through her dark hair before giving herself one last look in the mirror. Grateful for the relief she could see so clearly in her features, she capitalized on it. With a deep breath, she tore her eyes away from her reflection and turned toward the door.

Switching off the bathroom light, Bella leaned against the doorframe, eyes immediately locating Embry. He was sitting on the double bed, the threadbare, rust-colored comforter beneath him a stark contrast to his faded, torn blue jeans. His hands were in his lap, fingers wrung together as he stared at them, not even looking up when Bella closed the bathroom door behind her.

Smiling anyway, she tightened the towel around her body, pushing back another errant strand of wet hair before padding softly across the green shag carpet.

"Hey," she whispered, approaching him quietly. "You okay?"

Embry nodded, but didn't look up from his hands. "Yeah."

Bella frowned, immediately recognizing the tone of his voice - it was too steady, too controlled, a certain indicator something was bothering him. "Are you sure?"

It was his turn to smile, although it wasn't reassuring as he peered up at Bella, one hand running distractedly through disheveled hair. The dim light from the bedside lamp behind him cast shadows on his face, darkening both his eyes and the expression he wore. "Bella, I'm okay, I'm just … thinking."

Taking another step, Bella tried to read his body language, but he was stoic and resolute, revealing nothing.

Still, Bella didn't miss the flicker of anxiety in his eyes when he quickly glanced away.

His eyes were _always _what gave him away.

"Embry," she ventured, brows furrowing in confusion. "Are you worried they're gonna find us? Is that what this is about? You paid cash for the hotel room, so there's no way my dad can trace it …"

"It's not that," Embry interrupted with a shake of his head, even though he'd went back to staring at his hands.

Stopping in front of him, Bella dipped her head in an attempt to get him to look at her. "What's wrong then?"

Embry hesitated, holding his breath for several moments before releasing it, the air falling over his lips in the form of an anxious sigh. Pulling his hands apart, he balled them into fists before finally looking at Bella, the mask he'd held so firmly in place completely gone.

Replaced by a tangible fear, enough to make Bella's breath catch in her throat.

"I'm just trying to figure out what the hell we're gonna do when the sun comes up in a few hours …"

Something sank inside Bella, because even if she hadn't put words to it or shared it with him, she knew - because she'd _already _worried about what Embry had just said. She'd had eight hours in the passenger seat of a station wagon to allow the flickers of worry to come and go, and Embry - who had been high off the adrenaline rush caused by finding her - was only now giving himself a chance to process what they were facing.

He was only starting to think about what to do next.

"We'll figure it out, Em," Bella tried to comfort him, her voice steady and soothing. "We always do."

Chewing anxiously on his lower lip, Embry's eyes faltered and he shook his head roughly. "But what if we don't this time?"

"We _will_," Bella insisted.

"How do you know?" Embry pressed, wide, panicked eyes glancing up from his lap and locking on Bella His lips parted helplessly. "It's just … maybe your mom was right … to try and take you away."

Bella blinked, dumbfounded, the words hitting her like a punch to the gut. She knew he didn't mean it the way the words sounded, but it didn't lessen the impact of hearing him _say _them.

"Wh-what? How can you say that?"

Bringing his hands up, Embry pressed on his temples with his forefingers, closing his eyes. "No, that's not what I mean, but, Bella …," he dropped his hands in his lap, desperate eyes seeking her, "I love you, more than anything. You know this, but … what if that isn't enough?"

Feeling a familiar sting in the corners of her eyes, Bella's grip on the towel around her body tightened. Still, she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, determined to be as resolute as she always was.

"It will be enough."

"But what if it isn't?" Embry continued. "Jesus, I found out you were gone and I just … _panicked_. It felt like I was going fucking crazy, and … it was Leah who told me where you were. She overheard your dad talking to her mom about it the night before. Without her, I woulda never found you. That car out there?" He gestured toward the parking lot, eyes following quickly before returning to Bella. "Quil convinced his mom because I didn't have my own to come get you in. The money in my wallet? Jake loaned it to me. It was all the money he saved up this year doing oil changes for everyone on the rez …"

He didn't have to say it, but Bella could feel the implication behind his words - what he was really saying without actually saying it. "Embry, your family is _more _than just your parents. You know this. Your friends … they love you. Jake loves me - he's my best friend. He's _your _best friend. They love _both _of us."

"I know, but …" Embry argued, defeat seeping through his tone. "Without them, I woulda never been able to find you or come get you. Without them, I wouldn't _have _you right now. I wouldn't have …" His eyes settled on her stomach for the briefest of moments, and Bella could see the moisture gathering in the corners of each one, a vulnerability he rarely let show seeping through the cracks of an armor he usually kept squarely in place. "I wouldn't have _any _of this."

"Embry," she soothed, ignoring the unbearable tightening in her throat. Taking one more step toward him, she was able to reach out, fingertips tracing the line of his jaw.

His reaction, and what was clearly going through his mind, jarred Bella. She knew Embry, and over the years, he'd become accustomed to hiding the worst of what he felt. In the months they'd been together, she'd witnessed it up close. With a family like his - a deadbeat dad who only showed up when he felt like it and an alcoholic mother with more issues than Bella could keep track of - he'd learned to be tough. He'd learned to hold it in for the sake of himself and others, which is what sometimes caused him to act out in the first place.

It's what gave him the reputation that solidified her family's opinion of him from the start.

Bella knew better though, because she was the only one with whom he'd let down his guard. She'd seen facets of him no one ever had, and she knew just how determined he was to prove to Bella he was everything _but _what those who didn't know him believed.

That he was so much more than what her _family _believed.

She already knew that, though - she knew all of it. Still, that moment startled her because he was there and so was she and they were _together_, so a small part of her simply couldn't understand those liquid eyes peering at her from beneath long lashes. She couldn't understand the helplessness on his face.

Reaching up, he held his hand over hers. Turning his face so he could place a single kiss on her palm, the feel of her skin against his gave him the strength to say what he needed.

"If I couldn't even get myself here," he whispered against her fingers, "how am I going to take care of you? How am I going to take care of the baby?"

_There it was. _

The words hit Bella with a strength she couldn't fathom, and she suddenly understood what was happening. Everything in the whirlwind of the two days leading up to that moment had led him to _truly _believe he wasn't good enough for her, for their child …

For any of it.

"So, yeah … where are we going to go in the morning?" Embry continued purposefully. "Where the hell are we gonna get money? Where are we gonna _live_? Jesus, we can't go back. We _can't go back_, because I don't think I can be without you, Bella, but … that's what's going through my head right now. And at first, I was just so fucking glad I found you, and now I can't stop thinking about what I'm going to do to keep you now that I have … and what I'm going to do to keep you safe and happy. I just … don't know what I'm gonna do."

Biting down on her lower lip, Bella hoped a different kind of discomfort would draw from the one she could feel sitting smack in the middle of her stomach. Regardless, she shifted when he released her hand, his fingers brushing over the worn cotton towel covering her before landing in his lap, a defeated sigh disrupting the silence between them.

It broke Bella's heart to hear him talk like that - to see him look like that - and she knew she had to do what she could to make him understand.

To make him remember _why _she had gotten in that car.

Why she would follow him _anywhere_.

"We'll figure it out," she whispered. "We'll take it one day at a time." Placing one finger beneath Embry's chin, she urged his head up until his eyes met hers. "We'll _figure it out_."

Embry blinked rapidly, trying to hide the self-doubt clouding his eyes. "That's easy to say, Bella, but … your faith in me isn't gonna feed the baby when she gets here."

"Maybe not, but …" Bella pressed, taking his face between both hands before sliding into his lap. Releasing a deep breath, she could feel Embry relax against her, arms sliding easily around her waist, his nose inherently nuzzling the curve of her neck. "Maybe it'll remind you of what I already know … why I didn't even stop to think about what was I doing when I ran out of that hotel room earlier, and why I didn't even question jumping into that car with you."

She could feel Embry smile against her neck, the simple action pushing an overwhelming wave of warmth through her veins. "I think it's because you're a little crazy," he murmured into her skin.

Bella smiled, inhaling as her nose skimmed across the hair just above his ear. Lingering for a moment, she breathed him in, a small part of her still not able to believe he was there. "I probably am a little crazy," she laughed softly. "Maybe even a _lot _crazy, but … I see the best in people, too. I see the best in _you_. Why do you think I always fought so damn hard for you? Why do you think I never listened to a single word anyone said to me? I always have seen the best you, Embry Call, and that'll never change."

The longer she held him - the longer he stayed where he was - the more she could feel his body relax against her. He was taking a moment to let her words sink in, to remember everything that led up to her speaking them. He was remembering all the words she'd _ever _said - words similar to these, and the reasons they were both there in the first place.

Embry knew it was true, and Bella knew he believed her.

"Listen," she breathed, leaving a tender kiss on his temple as her mind drifted to a possible solution, "remember your cousins you told me about? The ones who live in Florida?" When Embry nodded, she smiled coyly, trying with everything inside her to have enough optimism for the both of them. Brushing her lips against his forehead, she placed another kiss there before taking a deep breath. "Why don't we go there? Maybe we can stay with them for awhile, at least until we both find jobs and get on our feet."

"I haven't talked to them in over a year, Bella," Embry sighed, his breath warm against her neck, but there was a flicker of hope in his voice. "It's been even longer since I've seen them. They have a kid, too. They don't have room …"

"Maybe you should call them anyway," Bella interrupted, pulling back enough to meet his gaze and give him a small but adamant smile, " … and at least see. You always told me they were better family to you than your own parents. They loved you, and they might surprise you."

Embry took a deep breath before finally nodding, the action slow and contemplative. "It _has _been awhile since I talked to them …"

Grinning, Bella reached up, pushing a strand of hair back from Embry's forehead. "Maybe now's the time you change that, huh?"

Embry finally smiled, and Bella relished the content shiver that raced through her body, born from an overwhelming warmth filling every corner of her.

"And until then," Bella whispered, "even if they don't have room for us, it doesn't matter. Whatever we figure out will be okay because I have you, and you are enough. You will always _be _enough, because you are all I need. You are all I will ever need, you got that?"

Pulling his bottom lip between his teeth to keep his grin from widening, Embry glanced down chastely as he nodded. Still, he peered up at her a moment later, reaching up and tracing his fingers lightly down Bella's cheek.

"I love you," he murmured. "So much."

"I love _you_," Bella assured without hesitation, leaning into the warmth radiating from his body and pressing her forehead against his. "Which means you can stop all this doubting yourself and all this questioning, because we've been through this, and if I thought for one second we wouldn't figure this out and that we wouldn't be okay, I wouldn't have gotten in that car."

Embry nodded, his smile still lingering on his lips. "We'll be okay."

"We'll be okay," Bella repeated, taking his face between both hands. Closing her eyes, she pressed a soft, gentle kiss to his lips, lingering longer than she needed to but staying there anyway, solidifying everything she had said - remembering why she believed it as ardently as she did - as his mouth moved slowly against hers.

Pulling away, she smiled as Embry released a muted, disappointed groan in his throat. "I'll be right back," she said quietly, kissing him one last time. Glancing down at their laps, Embry nodded grudgingly, releasing his hold on her waist and allowing Bella to stand, still clutching the towel to her body.

Turning to go, she took two steps, allowing her mind to wander for a split second, thinking about getting dressed.

However, the thought didn't last long when she felt another hand capture hers - before she felt it pull ever so slightly, causing her to stop and encouraging her to peer over her shoulder.

Embry was watching her, his eyes slowly traveling the length of her frame. She could see the subtle spark in them as he smiled, lighting a similar fire deep inside her the longer she stood there.

"Don't go," Embry murmured, his voice barely audible over the sound of the hotel room's rumbling air conditioner. It didn't matter - Bella still heard him. "Not yet."

Holding her breath, Bella barely remembered nodding before her feet turned her body without waiting for permission, before she was getting rid of what little space she had put between them. All the while, Embry never let his eyes stray from her, his head slowly tipping back as she drew closer, lifting his arms and reaching for her.

Watching him without abandon, she waited for his hands to once again find a home around her waist. She waited for strong, slender fingers to brush against her skin, but they never did. His smile gone, replaced with a deep, intense concentration - almost like he was trying not to miss a single thing - Embry kept reaching, finding the place just above her breasts, the spot where her hand rested. His fingertips brushed over hers, urging her to let go of the place where she'd tucked the fabric to keep the towel wrapped securely around her frame.

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, Bella let go, allowing his hands to replace hers, arms falling silently to her sides.

The towel followed soon after, billowing effortlessly to the carpet beneath her feet.

The cool air kissed her bare, flushed skin, a sharp contrast to the heat she felt inside. Bella closed her eyes just moments before calloused yet gentle fingertips ghosted down her ribs. She held her breath, savoring Embry's featherlight touch until his hands wrapped gingerly around her waist. Unable to see, she listened instead, concentrating on how Embry's breaths came harder, more uneven as he pulled, urging Bella forward until she knew she was standing in the narrow space between his legs.

Inhaling deeply, eyes still closed, Bella reached up. Pushing her fingers through his hair, she caressed the silky, raven strands. The warmth crawling through her veins paralyzed her in the best way possible. What little air she had in her lungs was lost when his hot breath bloomed across her abdomen, brushing his lips ever-so-slightly against the flesh just above her navel and causing goosebumps to erupt across every inch of her skin.

Lips parting, she wasn't breathing at all when Embry gently pressed his lips to the slight swell of her stomach, lightly grazing his fingers over the curve of her hips.

It was so much. It was everything she needed after all of the hours leading up to that moment as he placed kiss after soft kiss across her midsection, reaffirming his own promise in the best way he knew how.

With an unabandoned love and an intense devotion that still took Bella's breath completely away.

It reassured her that no matter how young they were, and no matter what anyone said or how many times they tried to take her from him, what they had was too strong. It was too real.

It was forever.

Eyelids fluttering open, Bella reached up, taking Embry's face between her hands. Tipping his face toward her, she leaned down, covering his mouth with hers. Lips moving carefully against his, she savored him with an agonizing gentleness. Bella shivered when Embry's hands grazed her hips, eventually wrapping around the back of her thighs.

Gasping against Embry's mouth, Bella's feet suddenly left the ground as Embry lowered her carefully into his lap. Knees pushing into the mattress, Bella opened her eyes, the heat of his body resting between her legs causing a visceral shudder to crawl slowly up her spine.

They stayed like that for a moment, Bella's fingernails brushing lightly against his neck as Embry left slow, deep kisses on her neck, her clavicle, her shoulders, making his mark on any part of her he could reach.

Pulling back, his ebony eyes finally found hers. The way he watched her made Bella tremble in delirious anticipation.

Smiling, Bella leaned forward, once again taking his face between her hands, leaving languid kisses on his lips. Hands splayed across her back, he held her tightly to him, refusing any space between their bodies. At the same time, her mouth tasted his, memorizing the way it moved against hers even though she didn't have to because there would be so much more after, so much more to enjoy for the rest of their lives. Regardless, his gentleness was agonizing and perfect, ensuring she didn't miss a thing and making sure she felt everything.

Still, Bella wanted more …

_She needed more._

Grinning against his lips, she pulled away just enough to see him, her hands traveling down the planes of his chest. Brushing over the his cotton t-shirt, she found the hem, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth to keep her smile from widening. Embry smiled in return, lifting his arms and allowing her to pull the garment from his body.

Placing both hands on Embry's shoulders, Bella relished the way he held her tightly, the way his bare skin felt against hers. She could've stayed that way forever, wrapped in him, but it wasn't enough. She knew it wasn't the moment she gently pushed against his frame, coaxing him back toward the bed.

Both moving back from the edge of the mattress, Bella left one leg on either side of Embry's body, bending down and hearing his breath catch. Pressing her lips to the defined spaces between his ribs, she lingered there, breathing him in. She _savored _him, a sense of safety - coupled with an overwhelming, tangible desire - wrapping around her insides as the familiar scent of mint and sandalwood filled her senses.

She sighed against his skin, smiling between each kiss, reveling in how his hands gripped her hips tighter each time she moved. She knew what she was doing to him, but it didn't matter. His labored breathing - all the noises he made in his throat when her lips spent an extra moment on a certain spot, her tongue peeking out to taste him - was enough to feed the insatiable flames inside her.

And Embry was only making it worse - worse in the best possible way, because the entire time, he touched her. His hands moved, mapping paths over thighs, drawing shapes on her hips, tracing the curve of her spine and bringing every spark of fire she felt inside to the surface. Her own breaths became heavy, each exhale blooming across Embry's skin, the burn inside her craving some kind of release.

She couldn't wait. Not a second longer, because she had waited long enough. Too many months had gone by with too much standing in their way, someone's disapproval always hanging over their heads, and now there was nothing. Nothing but an unknown future that may carry fear, but also carried endless possibilities for her. For him. For both of them … _together_.

And in that moment, that was all she wanted. Both of them, together - all of _him _wrapped around her.

All of him _inside _her.

Hands splayed against Embry's chest, Bella straightened, knees pressing into the mattress. Her fingers moved down, curling around the button of his jeans. The entire time he pushed out of them and she helped, she watched him watch her. Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, Bella smiled as Embry's eyes traveled unabashedly across her body. As she ascended his frame once more, his gaze moved over the curve of her breasts to her stomach, lingering for a moment as he regarded her with revelrie and devotion.

It was a look she was used to, yet it was an entirely different thing. There was an entirely different kind of love in his eyes.

Glancing up, his brow furrowed in concentration, there was another kind of intensity in his eyes. Bella held her breath, feeling strong, warm hands on her hips. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward, letting him lift her at the same time.

Curling her fingernails into his skin, every single thought - anything that came before - was swept away as Embry lowered her onto him. As he pushed his hips to meet her, his body filled hers in a way that still held the ability to completely take Bella's breath away.

Lips parting, she gasped, barely able to register Embry's fingers digging into her hips as she gave her body a moment to adjust to his. She gave herself another to take it all in, to register what the feel of him inside her was already doing.

She allowed herself to drown for a single second in the overwhelming, delirious heat pushing through her veins.

Eventually, though, she had to move - she _needed _to move, completely overcome as she leaned down. Hands gripping Embry's shoulders, her mouth covered his, her body instinctively rocking back the same time Embry's hips moved beneath her, pushing into her before pulling away and repeating the rhythm.

He took his time at first - slowly, gently, dragging out every single stroke as Bella did her best to move with him. She trembled in his arms, fingers caressing the length of his jaw as her mouth traveled to the warm curve of his neck. Placing hot, open-mouthed kisses there, every movement, the feel of his racing pulse beneath her lips, caused the need inside her to grow.

Making it all worse in the best possible way.

Falling into a rhythm that threatened to pull Bella apart at the seams, she let herself revel in it all - in all of him, in the way Embry didn't miss a thing. His hands were everywhere, all at once, one hand drifting tenderly down the curve of her spine while the other held her tighter to him. Pressing kisses to her shoulder, Bella shivered when he breathed her name, whispering words into her glistening skin, letting each one touch the parts of her his hands couldn't reach.

Reminding her just how important she was to him - every single piece, every single inch of her.

White-hot heat bloomed beneath Bella's eyelids as she pushed back, letting her eyes close as she straightened, using her hands against Embry's chest to brace herself. God, she could feel it - all of it, threatening to come apart inside her, but she wanted to make it last. She wanted more - as much as she could get.

It was almost like he could tell. Embry suddenly shifted beneath her, sitting up in one swift, fluid motion, the change of angle eliciting a dazed moan from Bella. Struggling to catch her breath, she opened her eyes, staring directly into Embry's black ones. He held her tight against his chest and she wrapped her arms securely around his neck, rocking her hips impatiently against his.

Embry only smiled, waiting a moment as he pressed his forehead against hers, slick skin against slick skin.

"I'll never get enough of this," he whispered, leaving a single, breathless kiss against Bella's lips. "I'll never get enough of _you_."

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she whimpered as he _finally _moved, as he rocked into her once more.

"Promise me," she breathed, the words so quiet she wasn't sure he would hear them.

"You know I won't …" Embry murmured, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other pressed against the bed for leverage as he left hot, deep kisses along the column of her neck.

"Promise …" Bella gasped, any coherent thought inside her obliterated as Embry found a new rhythm. Desperately knotting her fingers through his hair, the fire inside her returned, quicker than before, an intense pressure she could barely stand.

Even though she wanted more.

_So much more._

"I promise," Embry growled into her skin. "Everything I have, everything I am … it's yours, Bella."

Bella's breath caught in her throat, her heart beat stuttering when Embry didn't give her a chance to respond, his hold around her body tightening. Her breasts grazing against his firm chest, she held on tighter than she could fathom, her head lolling against his shoulder. The single shift allowed him to push into her one last time, and it was all Bella needed, feeling it through every inch of her body. The heat crawling through her veins gathered, suddenly exploding, every ounce of that fire coursing through her veins as she released a visceral cry into the dim hotel room surrounding them.

Biting hard on her lip, she trembled in his arms, desperately trying to catch her breath but unable to as Embry continued to move inside her. It wasn't long before his rhythm fell into chaos as he searched for his own release, finding it a moment later with his own satiated cry.

All the while, he never let her go, cradling her against him as she came down from her own delirious high.

Fingers twisting through the hair at the nape of his neck, Bella took a deep breath, her head still resting on her shoulder, refusing to let go anyway.

"I don't need everything," she whispered breathlessly, shifting just enough to place a kiss on the spot where his neck met his shoulder. "I just need you."

Embry released a ragged breath, his body relaxing against hers. Turning his face, he placed one kiss followed by another on her temple. His lips parted against her hair, the warmth of his breath tickling her ear. Lingering there for a moment, Bella knew he wanted to say something - she could tell by the way he hesitated, by the way his breath caught in his throat.

She knew it was coming, but there was no way for her to prepare for what he would say. Not really.

" … Marry me," Embry whispered quietly in her ear, his fingertips tracing patterns down her back, the words nearly lost in the inexplicable heat and darkness of the room.

Bella's stomach jumped, the words knocking every bit of air from her lungs. For a single second, she couldn't move, what he said taking away her ability to think, to move, to hear _anything _but those words.

But after a moment, she did. After a moment, Bella was finally able to gather her bearings enough to pull back, instantly capturing those ebony eyes. Reaching up, she softly cupped both cheeks with her hands.

"What did you say?" Her voice was unsteady, eyes wide with disbelief.

Closing his eyes, he turned his head, placing one, two gentle kisses to her trembling palm.

"Marry me," he murmured against her skin.

Blinking in shock, she couldn't ignore the growing warmth in her stomach, all of it exacerbated by the after effects of the high still lingering in her blood. Still, she smiled in both shock and an inexplicable elation. "Embry," she whispered, her smile widening, "that's _crazy_ …"

His eyes focused on her a moment before he leaned forward, grinning suddenly as he pushed his fingers through her hair. "I know, but Bella … you might not need everything, and I may be enough … but _you _are everything. You are _my _everything. You … our daughter. You are my life now, and I don't want to lose you again … ever."

In that moment, Bella could see the tangible sincerity in her eyes, and she knew nothing else would matter - no reason, no argument, no words she could possibly speak against the idea would be enough to negate the way he was looking at her. It wouldn't be enough to lessen the devotion in his words.

It wouldn't be enough to change her answer, a single word she could already feel on her tongue..

And she suddenly wanted nothing more than to _say it_.

"Okay," she said softly, the corner of her lips pulling into a smile as she let her fingers trace his jaw.

Still, Embry pulled back just enough, eyes wide and a grinning tentatively. "Okay?"

The excitement in his voice, the bouyancy in his eyes - resting beside but not overshadowing his sincerity - caused a laugh to tumble from Bella's throat. She nodded vigorously, letting loose a full, genuine smile of her own, yet another thing she so desperately wanted to give him.

"_Yes_."

And in that moment, as he leaned forward, capturing her lips in an intense, ardent kiss, Bella heard Embry's words in her head. She understood the meaning of each one all over again, and she believed everything she'd ever told him in a completely different way.

Because she knew …

She'd followed him this far, but in reality, their journey was only beginning.

* * *

_Oh, young love - these two don't have a clue, haha. However, sometimes it's nice to live in that bubble. Sometimes, nothing really is impossible, right? :)_

_MP, you wanted soft and loving. Well, this is about as soft and loving as I'm capable of producing! Love you, lady!_

_._

_Review if you like. _


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